Railscene Magazine 18 DVD: Spring 1989

Description

Contents: 

Opening Scene: 47519 heads newly-named Avocet (89001) out of Leeds with the wires switched off.

Provincial Problems: The mass withdrawal of Class 155 Sprinters with door troubles saw rapid redeployment of 37s, 47s, 31s, DMUs, 150s, 156s and Pacers throughout the county. The feature shows the effects!

Cab Ride – Liverpool Street to King’s Lynn: Network Anglia’s main line to Cambridge is electrified and the continuation to the town on the Wash will soon be dealt with. Our cab ride, recorded on 8 March 1989 takes us from the suburban sprawl of East London through Essex to the Fens, with plenty of semaphones at Ely.

Winter Workings – Part One: Pre-Christmas trains at Bo’ness, Leighton Buzzard, Loughborough (52XX and 49XX), Butterley (48151), Ingrow (Standard Class 4 and 61XX), Paignton and Churston (4555) and Rolvendon Road.

Winter Workings – Part Two: After Christmas at Bitton, in South Wales at Blaenavan, in the Midlands at Chasewater, with ‘Asbestos’ and a first (and maybe last) visit to Dinting to see ‘Scots Guardsman’ and ‘Bahamas’, back at last.

Archive Film – North Wales: With steam returning to the North Wales Coast Line in 1989, we look back to 1963 to see Black 5s, Fairburn tanks, BR Standards and so on at Llandudno Junction and Prestatyn, Bangor and Colwyn Bay.

Preservation – The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (Part One): A return visit to our first-ever featured railway, to see progress on this magnificent line through a national park, with the standard tank, Black 5s, J72, the Lambton tank and 56xx, as well as the Class 24 diesel, working from Grosmont up to the summit at Fylingdales.

Swanage Progress: Another expanding railway, the Swanage Railway on the Isle of Purbeck is rapidly returning across the heathland to Harmans Cross, Corfe Castle and Furzebrook. 1F and 3F tanks are seen separately and double heading, on the Harmans Cross opening day. We also visit Swindon Works to see progress on the line’s Standard tank, 34072 and 30053, and the M7 which returned from the USA.

The Channel Tunnel: Now progressing rapidly, this feature shows ‘Bodmin’ at the Isle of Grain terminal, work in progress at Shakespeare Cliff, the model of the British terminal at Folkestone and its associated Exhibition, but mainly concentrates on the action – the traffic generated in Kent by Channel Tunnel requirements, with Classes 33 and 56 on heavy freights.

A Bridge Too Far: The bridge connecting the Far North lines to Inverness was washed away in February 1989, marooning 37s and coaches on ‘the other side’. With Sprinters due to be ‘bussed in’, we view Dingwall, the new terminus and the remains of the bridge itself, also a washout near Rannock.

News: Busy times on the ECML with 89001, 91s and an 86. S&C diversions and Warcop branch closure, 31412 in ‘Engineer’s Drab’. An A4 to Bridgenorth, the K1 on the ‘Sub’ and the ECML at Newcastle, 4771s test run and S&C journey. 48151 on the S&C and Clan Line also on the S&C and testing on the North Wales Coast Main Line. A Railfreight 20 at Stoke and new underground units, a DVT and a ‘Bubblecar’ at Culgaith are amongst our features!

Cover Photo: A West Highland train of the past, with a Railscene crew aboard!

Approximately 120 minutes.